In search of the missing

'One' Pangi Budra is the subject of a land acquisition notice dated 1954. A bit of his life can be reconstructed. The rest is conjecture.

Power the people

Sahashradhara, Dehradun, India. A soft drink shop greets thousands of tourists at this confluence of a thousand streams. So what's the big deal? Well, its just that the shop is located right inside a microhydel powerhouse that supplied electricity to three nearby villages for over four years. Two year ago, it suddenly stopped functioning. Its lone operator, Rajendra Prasad, has not been paid his salary ever since.

Power projects fragment Western Ghats

Praveen Bhargav The Western Ghats is recognised as a global biodiversity hotspot. In the past, many large development projects including highways, railway lines, mega dams, nuclear plants and mines have intruded into this biodiversity treasure trove. Lack of knowledge and absence of effective watchdogs contributed to the ad-hoc manner in which such projects were approved.

Villagers in Himachal Pradesh block hydel project

A local deity of villages in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh recently ordained that the construction of a hydroelectric power project should be stopped.

Bone of contention

the national Hydroelectric Power Corporation (nhpc) -- a Government of India enterprise -- has petitioned the Union ministry of power against Arunachal Pradesh signing a memorandum of understanding with private companies to construct and run hydroelectric power projects.

Bilateral loss

the World Bank (wb) has chosen Raymond Lafitte, professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland, to mediate in the India-Pakistan dispute over Baglihar Hydroelectric Project, being constructed on the Chenab river in India. Lafitte is also the president of the International Hydropower Association, a non-governmental grouping of organisations and professionals from around the world working in the hydropower sector.

Double trouble

battle-lines have been drawn over the 330-megawatt (mw) Kishanganga hydel power project being set up in the border town of Gurez in Jammu and Kashmir (j&k). Leader of National Conference, the main opposition party in the state assembly, Nazir Ahmad Gurezi, who represents Gurez, recently threatened to resign from the assembly and launch a protest against the project.

People's power

Immediately after independence, the state government in Kerala focused on tapping the hydropower potential of the state. The efforts did bear some fruit. The lion's share of Kerala's power requirements is provided by 20 hydel power plants. In recent years, thermal power plants have also been pushed into service. However, Kerala is far from fulfilling its actual energy requirements.

Water discord

the talks between India and Pakistan on the Baglihar hydel power project on the Chenab River at Ramban in Jammu and Kashmir (j&k) have failed. The two neighbours held discussions on the 450-megawatt project on January 4-7, 2004. The deadlock appeared with India suggesting continuation of discussions on the project's technical issues for a week but Pakistan demanding an immediate halt on construction at the project site as a pre-condition for doing so. Pakistan finally hinted that it will now take the matter before "neutral experts".

Power-sharing pact

Nepal is all set to embark on its first ever joint venture hydel project. The Upper Karnali power project, a Nepal-India collaborative effort, is a 300-mega watt (mw) venture with an estimated cost of US $500 million.